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Post by Patrick on Sept 3, 2010 13:40:19 GMT
The Magner's cider advert would have you believe that they only use the freshest apples straight from the tree.
This is odd, because I thought cider was primarily made from windfall apples that have been hanging around a bit. In fact, when we made some years ago we sat the apples out on racks in what we called the Loggia (pronounced Low ja) to soften before we started the process.
Does anyone have any recipes for the wine or cider?
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Post by Weyland on Sept 3, 2010 13:54:41 GMT
Does anyone have any recipes for the wine or cider? Listen to The Archers. Ed and Joe Grundy are the experts in the cider department. Joe's secret ingredient is the occasional rat. Not making this up. Forty-odd years ago I used to brew beer, and got pretty good at it. Still have the proud scars from exploding bottles. And I still have a smashing little book, Brewing Better Beers, by Ken Shales of Basildon. The blurb says, and I quote, "It is the outcome of several years' experiments by Ken Shales and his associates in Boozledon". 30p. That's what I call value. Perhaps Ev knows Ken? |
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Post by Patrick on Sept 3, 2010 14:02:54 GMT
Is that the chap with the beard and glasses who tells a tale of being showered with spiders when one of his bottles went off in the shed? If so, we used to have that one - packed with little loose bits of paper from my Dad's own recipes. Edit: I've just checked - and it is! When I finally got back our 'family' book collection from my Nan's garage a couple of years ago I was really hoping that one was going to be in there - as it has (sort of) memories for me. Dad was a great beer maker and we'd regularly have a demijohn sitting at the back of the bath! I remember being allowed to sample the results - probably from quite a young age which has made me the man I am today!  Our finest hour was Châteaux Stub Crouch - when we grew a grape vine at the side of the corrugated iron garage and it produced beautiful light rosé sparkling wine! One litre the first year, 12 bottles the next! |
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Post by Weyland on Sept 3, 2010 14:58:59 GMT
Is that the chap with the beard and glasses who tells a tale of being showered with spiders when one of his bottles went off in the shed? If so, we used to have that one - packed with little loose bits of paper from my Dad's own recipes. The very bloke! In those days Essex was a centre of learning. Mine's got bits of paper in it as well. There's a PhD in this for somebody -- mark my words. One of mine detonated at the dinner table. That went down well with Mrs Y1. |
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Post by Patrick on Sept 3, 2010 15:04:56 GMT
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Post by Weyland on Sept 3, 2010 15:14:42 GMT
Take his hand off, Patrick! Look at this . . .  I have two copies! Mine and Jilona's dad's, God bless them. Note that the last one is in the USA. PS: I just noticed -- they're all in the USA. |
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Post by Patrick on Sept 3, 2010 15:24:03 GMT
Good God! That's like the book sellers advertising my Peter Tinniswood paperbacks for £170 a throw.  |
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Post by Weyland on Sept 3, 2010 15:25:50 GMT
Good God! That's like the book sellers advertising my Peter Tinniswood paperbacks for £170 a throw. Crikey! I have a few of those as well. I didn't know anybody cared. ;D |
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Post by Patrick on Sept 3, 2010 15:29:21 GMT
Things seem to have settled down now - but a couple of years ago on "Abebooks" they were all there at silly prices. Even the 1987 editions which were the last ones.
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stephan
Lovely, Happy & Gorgeous!
Posts: 278
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Post by stephan on Sept 3, 2010 16:00:28 GMT
Cider does not have to be made from windfalls-just apples. There was a time that the `mix` was all important but now you see some `single variety` types on sale.
Apple wine is something different-juice with added sugar and probably other stuff and with the yeast added.
Ken Shales?-now that is going back. I started with him but when it came to brewing/mashing I went onto Dave Line
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stephan
Lovely, Happy & Gorgeous!
Posts: 278
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Post by stephan on Sept 3, 2010 16:15:28 GMT
I entered the `National` once-in 1984. I met Jenny later that year so brewing got put away.
But this is the basic recipe that took 1st prize in the `Pale Ale class`
7lb Pale malt
6 oz Crystal Malt
9 oz Flaked Maize
500g Muscovado Sugar
2 oz Goldings
2 oz Hallertau
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Post by everso on Sept 3, 2010 17:56:05 GMT
Does anyone have any recipes for the wine or cider? Listen to The Archers. Ed and Joe Grundy are the experts in the cider department. Joe's secret ingredient is the occasional rat. Not making this up. Forty-odd years ago I used to brew beer, and got pretty good at it. Still have the proud scars from exploding bottles. And I still have a smashing little book, Brewing Better Beers, by Ken Shales of Basildon. The blurb says, and I quote, "It is the outcome of several years' experiments by Ken Shales and his associates in Boozledon". 30p. That's what I call value. Perhaps Ev knows Ken? I'm too posh for Basildon.  |
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Post by Weyland on Sept 3, 2010 18:05:14 GMT
I'm too posh for Basildon. I believe it. I used to work with a Welshman from Harlow. |
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Post by everso on Sept 3, 2010 18:11:14 GMT
I'm too posh for Basildon. I believe it. I used to work with a Welshman from Harlow. Basildon and Harlow are both "new" towns, built after WW2.  |
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Post by Weyland on Sept 3, 2010 18:14:34 GMT
I believe it. I used to work with a Welshman from Harlow. Basildon and Harlow are both "new" towns, built after WW2. He married an Austrian and lives in Vienna. |
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Post by Patrick on Sept 21, 2010 13:22:39 GMT
I entered the `National` once-in 1984. I met Jenny later that year so brewing got put away. But this is the basic recipe that took 1st prize in the `Pale Ale class` 7lb Pale malt 6 oz Crystal Malt 9 oz Flaked Maize 500g Muscovado Sugar 2 oz Goldings 2 oz Hallertau Loved it when my Dad was 'brewing'. My Mum's Jam pan on the stove and adding the various ingredients. Having a spoonful of malt! Watching the hops subside. Then the beery smell in the bathroom as the demijohns bubbled away. Lovely. Turned me into the part time alcoholic that I am today. |
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Post by Patrick on Sept 28, 2010 13:57:01 GMT
After a quarter of a century of experimentation and nurture, the harvest of 29 new varieties of English cider apples was taking place in the West Country today .
Rejoicing in names ranging from the explanatory (the Early Bird) to the downright cheeky - the Prince William is named after the second in line to the throne because he is known to enjoy a tipple - growers hope the new types will provide a fresh boost to the industry.
There are already hundreds of cider apple varieties but the project, managed by the National Association of Ciders Makers (NACM), is designed to find better, juicier and more disease-resistant fruit.
Liz Copas, a consultant pomologist who has overseen the project and has had an apple (Lizzie) named in honour of her, said harvest time was always important and exciting in the orchards of the UK – but this one could be even more significant. "We hope to prove the new fruit the offers growers and cider makers the best combination of juice quality and high yields," she said.
The cider industry has been one of the countryside's triumphs over the last few years with 130m gallons now produced in the UK every year. There was an outcry in the spring when the Labour government announced it was going to slap a sharp increase on cider duty. The decision was ultimately reversed.
While that row was taking place, the 29 new varieties of apples were ripening at three orchards in Somerset and Herefordshire. Household names such as Bulmers and Thatchers are involved in the scheme but so are smaller concerns.
The fruit will be hand-picked, weighed and analysed before it is turned into cider and tasted. Simon Russell, spokesman for NACM, said: "This work is really important for growers and cider makers. It also demonstrates that the industry is a long-term thing. The investment cycle in cider is measured in decades."
Propagation began in 1984. The final selection of the 29 varieties was made in 2007, the idea to find fruit with a perfect combination of sweetness and bitterness.
Russell said: "It can take up to five years for new orchards to produce apples and it is typically 10 years before the grower will break even following the investment to plant a new orchard. That was partly why the industry became so angry when the government said it was putting up duty. "Growing orchards is a long-term business - a stable duty regime is vital," he said.
In the last 15 years many thousands of acres of new orchards have been planted to keep pace with the increasing demand for cider. But this experiment focuses on producing new varieties.
The new apple varieties are: Lizzy; Prince William; Amelia; Amanda; Jenny; Hastings; Connie; Helen's Apple; Three Counties; Jane; Tina; Early Bird; Vicky; Naomi; Nicky; Angela; Gilly; Willy; Joanna; Maggie; Hannah; Jean; Sally; Fiona; Shamrock; Tracey; Eleni; Betty and Debbie.
Hardly a very imaginative 'bunch' of names!
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Post by Weyland on Sept 28, 2010 14:03:57 GMT
There's something about that sentence that marketing men would call -- in marketing jargon -- the Kiss of Death. A brand which doesn't stand a hope in hell. And you can't buck the market. Heard that before?
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